


The Call of Duty

by bookworm03



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Law Enforcement, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-05-30 18:41:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6435931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm03/pseuds/bookworm03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leslie just wants to have very serious conversations about policy with the Veep and this pesky Secret Service agent keeps getting in the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I posted on tumblr for the prompt _A cop and someone in frequent trouble with the law_ and then I got a few more follow-up prompts for this universe that will probably be longer. I'm posting the first part here and will add to it as new fic is written! 
> 
> Comments/kudos/likes/reblogs/tumblr replies are wonderful and you guys are amazing and thank you in advance!

**Washington DC, 05/31/2010 09:30hrs**

“The vice president is busy, Ms. Knope.”

“He didn’t look that busy! We were having a nice conversation and you just…swooped in!”

“That’s my job, ma’am,” the stronger-than-he looked agent ushered her through the building and towards the exit. “Also, you tried to kiss him and his wife wasn’t a big fan of that.”

“You…this…I am a concerned citizen who just wanted to discuss my opinions on things with the vice president, and if I happened to be reading a signal that said he wanted me to go in for a smooch then how dare you stop me!”

“You misread the signal, Ms. Knope.”

“Oh, is that it? And you’re the expert on reading signals Agent…?”

She spun as he kept moving her forward and caught the profile of a sharp jaw and a lot of brown hair. 

“Wyatt.”

“Aren’t you a little scrawny to be a Secret Service Agent, Wyatt?”

“Apparently not,” he guided her outside and towards a waiting taxi. He pushed her inside and closed the door, leaning in through the open window. All of his face was sharp and his nose was pointy. His expression was stony.

“And I’m the best shot, FYI.”

He rapped the top of the roof and the cab accelerated away from the Capitol Building.

**Washington DC, 07/03/2010, 14:13hrs**

“You tried to kiss the vice president again, Ms. Knope.”

“He tried to kiss me first!”

“He did not,” Wyatt escorted her quickly through the side yard of the White House. “And how you escaped the tour group is beyond me. I’m pretty sure you’re stalking him.”

“if I was stalking the vice president why would I go to the White House? He doesn’t live there.”

“That’s the genius of it,” he retorted wryly, pushing her into a black car and saying nothing else.

**Washington DC, 11/08/2010, 19:03hrs**

She was sitting in the holding cell, waiting impatiently when Agent Wyatt breezed in.

“I don’t know how you keep getting in here.”

“I wore a sexy disguise.”

“Good lord, are you insane?”

“Insane about government and policy,” she bit her lip. “At least I didn’t try and kiss him this time.”

“No, you just verbally assaulted him.”

“We were engaged in an impassioned discussion of the merits of his economics policy.”

“Of course you were,” Wyatt uncuffed her. “I’ll drive you back to your hotel. Please don’t come by again or they might actually throw you in jail,” he licked his lips. “And what would the Pawnee Parks Department do without its Deputy Director?”

“The same thing the city of Partridge will do without its boy mayor. I can do an AltaVista search too, Agent Benji Wyatt!”

A shadow fell over his face and Leslie studied his eyes for the first time. They were the color of brownies and narrowed in focus.

“Why would someone with political ambitions end up being a Secret Service agent? It’s not like a lot of us go on to be President.”

“That’s the genius of it,” she returned smoothly.

*****

“I’m serious, Ms. Knope. Please don’t do this again.”

“Fine,” she stood at the steps to her hotel and studied Benji Wyatt a little harder. He was obviously cute, if a little harsh.  

“Why do you care if I come back?”

“I don’t,” he clucked his tongue. “Nice meeting you, Ms. Knope. Good luck with Harvest Festival.”

He turned on his heel and headed back to where the car was parked, leaving Leslie’s jaw agape. She almost yelped when he called back after her.

“What the hell is on your hands?”

“Fingerless gloves!” She answered without thinking.

**Indianapolis, IN, 2/23/2011, 20:34hrs**

“I was invited.”

“Of course you were.”

“They didn’t even tell me who was speaking.”

“Right.”

“I’m getting commendation for - ”

“Your Harvest Festival.”

“Did you find that on Altavista?”

“Google,” he licked his lips. “I can’t talk to you though, I’m working.”

“You started it.”

“I super did not.”

“That’s not a very Secret Service-y thing to say.”

Leslie swore he almost grinned as she retreated back to the ballroom.

*****

“Are you working still?”

He took a sip of his beer and leaned back into the bar stool.

“No.”

“Can I buy you a drink?”

“Are you going to try and kiss me?”

The way his eyes slanted made her insides burn. It probably had more to do with the fruity cocktails at dinner than Agent Wyatt, though. _Obviously_ he was joking. 

“I’m going to ask you why you joined the Secret Service if you really want to get back into politics.”

Benji Wyatt’s frown deepened. “It was either this or become a state budget specialist. I’m trying to prove I’m responsible.”

“Well, your charge seems to be in capable hands.”

“Well, see,” he tapped the bar. “There’s this crazy stalker lady and okay, she’s cute so I kind of don’t mind running into her from time to time, but she’s also a giant pain in the ass.”

“She thinks you’re cute too,” Leslie blurted out before she could stop herself.  “For a mean jerk in charge of precious cargo.”

“A mean jerk just trying to do his job,” he replied, but his words held no malice. “Speaking of which, I’m on duty again in the morning, so I better call it a night.”

“Oh,” she shifted a little as he drained his beer. “Okay, it was nice not being escorted out of a building by you tonight, Agent - ”

“Ben. I think you can call me Ben now, Ms. Knope.”

She grinned and told him to call her Leslie. Ben gave a little wave before striding out the door.

**Pawnee, IN, 04/04/2011, 17:09**

The words _Vice President…assassination attempt…safe…one Secret Service agent in hospital_ flashed across her TV screen. The name of the agent was not released, but the after watching the video clip in slow motion several times, Leslie was certain it was him.

She booked the last flight out to DC that night and decided she would figure out the rest on the way there.

**Washington DC, 04/05/2011, 08:04**

“God, you’re a pain in the ass,” he murmured as soon as he saw her. He was groggy from the painkillers and okay, yes, it had taken her several minutes of aggressive negotiating and Ben - hoarse and in pain - calling _JUST LET HER IN, SHE WON’T LEAVE YOU ALONE UNTIL YOU DO_ to get Leslie into the wing. But it had worked and here she was, successfully in Agent Ben Wyatt's hospital room where he lay in the center of a cozy looking bed. It didn't really look like a hospital room, besides the IV pole and a few machines, but Leslie supposed that was what happened when you get shot trying to protect the most important man in the country. 

Well, the second most important right now. At least to her.

“At least you didn’t try his residence for a kiss.”

“He didn’t get shot, you did. You jumped in front of him.”

“It’s my job,” he lolled his head to the side and half-smiled. “And someone told me he was precious cargo.” 

Leslie’s cheeks grew hot. 

“Is your family here to see you? Do you want me to go and get them?”

“No,” he coughed and winced as it sent a wave of pain through him. “My brother’s trying, but his wife’s very pregnant and I told him I’m stable. And there’s a stupid snowstorm in Minnesota that grounded all the flights, so even…I don’t think they’d want to come anyway.”

“Oh.”

“But you’re here.”

“I am,” she settled in a chair. “And I’ll stay with you for a while if you want.”

“I’d…really like that, actually.” 

Ben’s face softened and she took his hand.  

“Even though I’m a pain in the ass?”

“I’m a mean jerk, it evens out.”

Leslie grinned and rubbed her thumb along his cool skin. Ben inhaled sharply. 

“Am I misreading the signals?” 

A smile formed on his face. 

“Not this time, Ms. Knope.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is a continuation of Secret Service Ben AU. Comments and kudos make my day and I'm a little stressed this evening and will be even more stressed tomorrow morning, so your love and affection is appreciated. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3

He wasn’t sure how Leslie Knope had ended up at his apartment, but everything hurt and he was leaning on her very heavily, despite the fact that Chris and that new kid arrived at the hospital specifically to transport him back home. 

He didn’t remember much about being there - he was heavily drugged and still sort of was - but he did recall the Vice President of the United States coming into the room with gifts and thank yous and “Can I do anythings”.

He recalled Leslie’s warm fingers brushing against his damp scalp and pretty blue eyes locked on his.

The vice president was there, in the room, and she stayed focused on him.

Now, she failed to notice how dusty and not lived in his apartment was and guided him on top of his comforter. He shifted his legs onto the bed and sighed.

“What can I get you?” She pushed his hair off his forehead and brushed over his arm.

“Are you staying?” He managed to slur.

“If you want me to.”

“Yes,” it came out abruptly and his fingers seemed to latch onto hers, but Leslie just smiled back and squeezed.

*****

Chris left with the new guy and Leslie stayed. Through his sleep, Ben heard her puttering around his tiny kitchen and something sizzling.

“Ben,” she rubbed his side. “I’m sorry to wake you, but you haven’t eaten in two days and I made you pancakes.”

Was this the same insane woman he’d been trying to keep from kissing the vice president for the last six months?

She helped him get propped up on some pillows and settled a tray in his lap. The pancakes were amazing, but the morphine had made his stomach queasy and he couldn’t get more than a few bites down.

***** 

By morning, the narcotics had worn off and he felt sore, but better. His mind was clear and the pain was reassuring somehow.

Leslie was there too.

Asleep, under an afghan on his small couch which somehow looked big with her in the middle. He cleared his throat and she jolted upright, hopping to her feet and then tripping over the blanket.

“Crap on a...did...I was just resting my eyes!”

Her hair was everywhere and she was still in her clothes from the day before.

“You...you can sleep if you...were you not planning on sleeping?”

“I didn’t...I didn’t know if I should...I was just worried about you,” her brow furrowed.

“Oh…” he felt himself start to smile. “Yeah?”

Her smile back was tight, but honest. “Yes,” she nodded firmly. “Very worried. Can I get you some breakfast? You don’t have any food, so I’ll probably go to the store.  You should rest and…”

“Leslie?” He grabbed onto her wrist with his good hand and she lifted her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and she gulped.

“Hmm?”

“You...weren’t misreading the signals.”

“You said that.”

“Come lie down with me then; it’s early. I can promise I’ll keep my hands to myself because I literally can’t move anything from my left shoulder down.”

That made her laugh a gentle, breathy laugh.

“Later. It’s Saturday; let me go to the store before it gets busy and then...”she trailed off, thumbing his cheek.

“Rest; I’ll be back soon.” 

Ben was back asleep immediately and wouldn’t even remember her leaving.

*****

He emerged from the shower, having done his best to splash warm water all over himself while still avoiding his wound. Dressing in new pajamas was hard enough, but it wasn’t exactly like he could get Leslie to help him. The house smelled of bacon and Leslie was humming to herself as she tucked fresh sheets onto his bed. He blinked as she twisted to face him.

“I washed your sheets,” she threw his pillows back into place and smoothed them out. “Is... it just smelled kind of musty. These are fresh.” 

Ben flopped on the mattress and inhaled the scent of whatever fabric softener she’d used. It was probably the best thing he’d smelled in months.

“And I’m making us breakfast food because breakfast food is the only food worth eating.”

He chuckled, eyes falling shut again. 

“Listen here, Agent Wyatt,” her voice cut through the silence. “You can sleep in a few minutes, but not until you eat something, because you’re wasting away.”

He grinned and mumbled she was bossy.

“Bossy, assertive, same thing.”

*****

“Which one is this?”

“Phantom Menace?”

“And this is a bad one?”

Ben groaned and pushed his face into her shoulder. He was in pain, but was attempting to grin and bear it for the time being...just so he could spend some lucid time with the cute caretaker in his life.

The cute caretaker in his life he had an increasingly major crush on with each passing day.

“It’s awful, but I have all the old VHSs of the original and the VCR isn’t hooked up.”

Her lips landed in his hair and it prompted him to take her hand.

“I can’t believe you stayed, honestly. Or that you came at all. I’m still...kind of shocked.”

Leslie’s mouth twitched and she took a deep breath, as if she needed to work up the nerve to respond.  

“I saw the...I saw it on the news and I could tell it was you and I…” their fingers tangled and Leslie rested her chin on top of his head.

“I had to know you were okay.”

He dragged his thumb along the smooth skin of her hand.

“Thanks.”

That night they fell asleep just like that, bowls of ice cream melting as Phantom Menace played in the background.

*****

The next day went much the same way, except they watched Revenge of the Sith and Leslie weaved her arm through his good one and snuggled onto his shoulder. They ate pizza in bed, Leslie made cookies and tea and he dozed off to the scent of her shampoo.

He woke up moaning in pain and Leslie gave him one of his pills and stroked his hair until he fell back asleep. 

*****

“You’re not a pain in the ass when you’re not trying to kiss the vice president,” Ben teased on their third night together. Leslie had hooked up the VCR herself and they were having a proper Star Wars marathon. She kept asking if he was in pain and he kept lying because he wanted to talk to her and remember it clearly.

“You’re not a mean jerk when you’re incapacitated.”

Ben pulled her down beside him.

“Tell me about you,” she toyed with his fingers. “Tell me about your life and your career and…how did you get involved in this?”

He paused a beat, and then launched into an explanation of joining the marines after Ice Town just to get away from everyone. She tightened her grip on him a few times and then smiled when he made a joke about signing up with the Secret Service to protect  _ the sexiest man in politics _ .

“It’s a tie,” she grinned. Ben arched an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, are you saying you made me forcibly remove you from the vicinity three times when there was another man in DC just as adequate?”

“Maybe I wanted to get up close and personal with his Secret Service agent and former mayor of Partridge,” her eyes slanted down sexily. Ben bit his lip.

“Oh, you are such a  _ liar _ , Knope,” he tried to move his arm smack her, but his shoulder still burned, and it only ended up making him pout and flop back into the pillows. Leslie obviously sensed his frustration, because she kissed his cheek and curled against him.

“You’re the tie, by the way. In case that wasn’t clear.” 

They started the movie after that and fell asleep pressed up against each other.

*****

“Here’s your heating pad,” she climbed onto the bed and tucked it carefully under his side. It was day five of being released from the hospital and each day he moved a little better, but his arm still seared with pain every time he even thought about lifting it. Tonight was a particularly bad night and Leslie had given him his pills early, which meant his mind was foggy and all he knew for certain was that he was staring directly at the sun.

He hated this. He wanted to be able to stay upright for more than twenty minutes at a time, to help her cook them dinner or even do all the cooking himself. His fingers twitched to push her soft curls out of her eyes.  In his apartment, his bed, wearing his clothes and smelling of his body wash, she seemed to be all of his. Except he still couldn’t do much in the way of touching her. Ben glanced down, watching her nose crinkle as she asked if it was too hot. 

Her face was so pretty.  And her lips and her eyes and her breasts and...it was like she had a halo around her or something. He yawned and shifted against the new warmth.

“It’s perfect,” he whispered, hoping to make her lean in as his eyes dropped to her pink lips. “You’re perfect, Knope.”

She tilted her head in a soft smile. “You’re medicated.”

“You’re perfect and beautiful,” he ghosted his lips along her jaw as soon as she was in range and swore she shivered. “Beautiful baaaabydoll, snug bug, snuggerdoodle.”

Leslie laughed softly as his good hand slid into her hair.

“You’re a goof.”

“You should stay with me forever,” he murmured and it felt like he might be singing Al Green or something, but it was hard to tell in his haze.

She cackled, but moved closer. Having her so close, he didn’t hesitate to let his lips find hers. She exhaled into him.

“Hi.”

He tried to sit up and kiss her again, but everything hurt and his head was spinning. He whined and she eased him back down.

“No no no, stay there, lie down.”

“I don’t want to. I wanna kiss you.” Was he pouting? Maybe. It was hard to say.

Leslie pushed into him, kissing again, slower, her tongue flicking his lip. Ben grunted.

“If you lie down I’ll kiss you.”

That sounded like an awesome deal to him.  

When he fell asleep a few minutes later with Leslie’s tongue against his, Ben reminded himself to apologize in the morning.

He might’ve said that part out loud, because he heard Leslie snicker and her mouth pressed into his neck.

“Go to sleep, Agent Wyatt.”

He was never one for disobeying orders. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I present to you the next installment in this series! Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos and I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Happy Sunday!!!

“ _ More  _ pancakes and bacon?” His good arm, the left one, wound around her waist and his lips pushed into her ear. Leslie leaned back and flipped a pancake and allowed her eyes to fall shut as she took in the feeling of Ben pressed against her. 

“You said you love my pancakes and they’re amazing and - ”

“They are,” he reached around to kiss her lightly. Over the last couple of days Ben had slowly been getting up and moving about more and more. He was still in pain, but he needed his pills less, which Leslie was certain was a good thing.

Ann said it was a good thing.

That had been an interesting conversation.

She’d been texting Ann about the vice president and Washington DC and how amazing the city was and Ann had apparently not put it together that Leslie was actually  _ in _ DC. Three days after she’d departed Ann had found it weird they hadn’t seen each other, and well…

Apparently Leslie talked about Washington DC a lot even when she was not in Washington DC.

_ “You’re in DC with a Secret Service agent?” _

_ “Yes! He was shot being amazing and I’m here to take care of him.” _

_ “Um…” Ann hesitated. “This wouldn’t be the same agent you called a fascist hardass with a god-complex would it?” _

Okay, Ben had sort of made her angry a few times.

Now he didn’t make her angry. Now she was taking two weeks of the 384 vacation days she had saved up and spending it with this cute, fascist hardass who was currently nibbling on her neck in a way that made her stomach drop and burn with desire. She really wanted to take him to bed.

Well...okay, no, she took him to bed all the time. But she wanted to take him to  _ bed _ .

She should ask Ann how long after a gunshot wound you can have sex with someone.

Nothing extravagant, just some slow, gentle, recovery boning.

Also, when did they transition into neck nibbling? All they’d done up until this point was kiss a little lying in his bed until he fell asleep.

“Let me take you out for dinner. There’s a nice restaurant close by and it’s...I’d really like take you out.”

“Like a date?” Leslie whirled to face him and palmed his cheeks. Ben was smiling so widely it made her chest ache and a part of her brain started working overtime to remember why it had taken her so long to realize how much she liked him.

“Like a date and a thank you for taking care of me. I’m not used to people taking care of me.”

He drew her close and nuzzled a kiss against her lips.

“It’ll be fun. Trust me.”

“I don’t have anything to wear.” 

“You’re saying that slinky little black thing in your suitcase is not ready to wear?”

“Maybe I was afraid I would have to go to your funeral.”

Ben pressed his lips to her forehead and slotted her in his arms as best he could.

“Please?”

“Okay.”

*****

He dropped a kiss to her bare shoulder when they got into the restaurant. His arm was in a sling and he kept puffing slightly in obvious discomfort but insisted he didn’t want his meds.

“I’ll take some before bed. We’re getting wine, remember?”

He took her hand as they were led to the table. Leslie watched his eyes dart around the room, narrowing slightly before he finally exhaled and slid into a cozy corner booth.

Leslie rubbed her foot against his under the table and reached for his fingers again.  

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he jolted as though he’d been somewhere else, eyes glassy and jaw clenched. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

She hadn’t thought about this aspect of taking Ben out. She’d been fixating so much on his discomfort that she hadn’t considered what being surrounded by people might do to him. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

“Ben, honestly, I’m fine if you want to go.”

“No,” he growled and pulled her knuckles to his lips. “I’m fine. I promise.”

She didn’t believe him, but she didn’t argue either.

*****

“Hey,” she reached around to rub his neck as he used his left hand to stab at scallop. He’d wanted the steak, but knew he wouldn’t be able to cut it and Leslie would’ve offered to do it for him, but…

Instead she’d just promised they’d come back for steak when his arm was better.

She scooted around the booth and kissed his right shoulder.

“Hmm?”

“I was thinking maybe we try that new show I was talking about tonight. There are four seasons or something so we won’t run out as fast.”

Ben managed a small smile and nodded, even though he never glanced down at her.

“Ben?”

He twirled some pasta on his fork. “Yeah?”

“You haven’t looked at me once since we sat down.”

She didn’t mean to sound like a whiny girlfriend or whatever, but for someone whose idea this had been, he seemed to really be hating every second of it.

Ben just sighed in response.

They ate cake for dessert and Ben insisted on paying and it wasn’t until they were outside in the cool air, waiting for the valet to bring the car around, that Leslie tried to talk about it again.

She ran her hands down his back and he opened his coat and wrapped them both in it. His arm was out of its sling and he’d been grunting a little bit, but insisted he was fine as he pulled her into his chest.

“It’s okay, I promise. You’ll be home soon,” she turned her gaze up at him and Ben frowned for an instant before realization flooded his face. 

“You think I’m worried about myself?”

He tightened his arms and her chest squeezed with them.

“Leslie, the last time I was out in public the person I was supposed to be protecting almost got killed.”

She blinked in disbelief. “Wait...are you worried about  _ me _ ?” 

Ben grunted.

“I”m just on edge, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be this bad. I just wanted to take you out and thank you, and...” he bit his lip. “You...you have been so amazing these last couple of days, but it’s not even that. I like you..I would’ve liked you whether all of this had happened or not. And I...I wanted you to know that.”

Leslie slid her arms around his waist, pushed up on her toes and kissed him slowly. Ben pulled back abruptly and pecked her forehead, tucking her under his chin. He was scanning their surroundings and she could feel the urgency taut in every muscle of his body, but Leslie just melted into his warmth and hoped it would help him relax.

“I’m fine, everything’s fine; I promise. We had a nice dinner and dessert and you taste like chocolate and I can’t wait to get you home and make out a lot. I don’t need to go anywhere. I don’t want you to feel like this.”

“I just hate feeling like something could happen and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

Leslie wanted to tell him nothing was going to happen, but she wasn’t sure it would help. She was stroking his hair and they were making eyes at each other when the valet arrived with the car.

Ben kissed her neck when they hit a red light and Leslie’s stomach twisted.

*****

He landed on the bed with a bounce and she cackled for the first time all night and climbed on top of him, loosening his tie and scooting over his lap. 

“Thanks for dinner.”

“Thanks for being a mess?”

“Shhhhh,” her fingers worked through the knot and tossed it to the side. “You’re not a mess and we’re having sex.”

Ben smiled crookedly, even if his eyes did go a little wide.

“O-oh?” 

“ _ Mhmmm _ ,” she punctuated her point with a kiss to his lower lip. “You are very strong and masculine and sexy and you have a cute butt and we’re having sex tonight.”

“To thank me for dinner?” he quipped. Leslie smacked his leg playfully.

“Because I like you.”

“I like you more.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“But if it was I would win.”

Leslie grinned, shaking her head and sealing their mouths together.

*****

He got... _ frustrated  _ a couple of times. 

Leslie got them both undressed and Ben kept trying to touch her, but then he’d forget he was injured and growl. At one point he tried to flip her beneath him and then yelped in pain and slumped back with a sigh.

“I’m normally better at this.”

“It’s okay,” she moved his hand to her thigh and lined him up, sinking down slowly. Ben’s good arm wrapped around her back and pulled her down so their faces were close.

Just some slow, gentle, recovery boning. Nothing earth shattering or headboard rattling but warm and reassuring with lots of kisses and brushes of skin.

It lasted a long time, much longer than Leslie normally would’ve liked, but everything felt good and wonderful and Ben finally seemed relaxed. Eventually, his thumb found her clit and she was coming with a soft moan and a breathy sigh and Ben was right behind her.

His skin was slick with sweat afterwards and judging by his face he was definitely in a lot of pain.

Leslie kissed his cheek.

“I’ll get your pills - ”

“No.”

She froze, halfway off the bed. Ben took a shaky breath.

“Come...just wait a minute. Come lie down a minute.”

Leslie smiled, crawling back to the crook of his arm and settling there with a sigh.

“You’re cuddly.”

Ben snorted, but then his mouth found her hair.

“I just want to hold you for a minute,” he whispered.

Out of nowhere her eyes started stinging and she snuggled closer. Ben’s thumb slid down the top of her spine and Leslie exhaled.

That worked just fine for her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday zarrati!!! I know this is late, but I wrote it in honor of your special day and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone for reading. Comments and kudos are amazing, as tumblr replies/likes/reblogs. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me!!

Ben liked to think he was decent at sex.

He knew he wasn’t exactly Don Juan, but he had some specific... _ skills _ women enjoyed.

But he was not good at sex these days.

Which sucked, majorly, because all he wanted was to be some sort of sex god for Leslie. She’d been so sweet and patient and caring and he...he wanted to thank her.

By fucking the hell out of her.

He thought of this while Leslie rode him for the third time in two days, a light coating of sweat on her skin and a dopey, content smile on her face.

She was not short on enthusiasm, that much was obvious from the first moment their lips had connected. She kissed him endlessly, through smiles and teeth, and ground against him whenever she felt like it.

So long as he was comfortably resting against some pillows.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, leaning forward and pouting just a touch. Ben slid his lips over hers and they both exhaled.

“Nothing,” he tried to push up into her and Leslie sighed and moved a little faster as cold heat filled his balls and she let out a loud groan. They finished around the same time and rolled to their sides, nuzzling. Ben couldn’t help but smile.

“You good?”

“I’m perfect.”

Leslie Knope was definitely perfect.

*****

The next night he...reacted more strongly than he would’ve liked to when his frustrations got the better of him. They were having sex again, Leslie was kissing him and doing things with her tongue that made his toes curl and, instinctively, Ben tried to flip her.

He tore something in his shoulder, bleeding started and Leslie squawked and fussed over him and called Ann Perkins and asked if she had killed him through  _ red hot loving _ .

Ben laughed, and then while she was in the other room getting bandages he threw his remote at the wall.

He was not the type of person to erupt in fits of rage and he really didn’t have much of a temper, but he hated it. He hated being unable to move like he wanted to, feeling trapped by his own body when he  _ needed _ to worship hers.

“Ben,” she rested their foreheads together and he breathed. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Ben sighed and eased her down against him. He didn’t want to hurt himself either, he just wanted to have sex like a normal, red blooded male.

Was that such a big ask?

*****

“Ben,” she panted and arched upwards. He could feel he was smirking, all of his weight on his good arm as he kissed down her body. It had taken a little while to get into the position, but it was exactly what he wanted.  _ Needed. _

It was where he needed to be.

“Honey, honey, careful of your - ”

“I’m fine,” he growled.

As it turned out, he was not fine.

He was just  _ really  _ starting to taste her when he tried to shift his weight to use his fingers as well, put too much strain on his shoulder and…

It ended with Leslie kissing him and reassuring him it was fine and no, she wasn’t sitting on his face because she didn’t want to hurt him like that either.

He wished she wasn’t so considerate.

*****

“So, Ann says that means you’re healing amazingly well and it will be great if they can wean you off the painkillers…”

Ben grabbed her hips and tugged. He was sitting on the couch, fresh from his latest appointment, and Leslie had just gotten out of the shower. She was all warm and her hair was damp and she smelled incredible. Like coconuts and his own menthol-based body wash.

She climbed easily into his lap and started kissing his neck. Ben exhaled.

“I have a surpriiiiise for you.”

He wanted to absorb every modicum of enthusiasm she possessed. He wanted to crawl under her skin and stay there forever.

“Tell me.”

“I'm taking you on vacation.”

“Uh, what?”

“I booked us this amazing hotel and it’s got a spa and it comes highly recommended and I just want to take you somewhere to relax. And I cleared it with your doctors already.”

Of course she had.

“Where are we going?”  

Leslie grinned mischievously.

*****

His girlfriend was taking him to Hawaii. Maui; to an extravagant resort that apparently a secret benefactor had taken care of the funding for.

He could call her his girlfriend now, right? Only girlfriends planned amazing vacations to aid in your recovery.

He had three therapeutic massages scheduled before they even arrived and Leslie was just running through their dinner plans for that night when they were led inside a small villa that he really, really hoped wasn't costing Leslie a penny because it was probably the most expensive room he’d ever been in.

“It's been taken care of, I promise and waaaait until you see the view.”

He ran his hands over her hips and mumbled he already had the best view, which made her cackle and lean into him.

The Pacific Ocean from their lanai was also amazing, he had to admit.

He kissed her forehead and wrapped her up as best he could.

“You are the greatest.”

Leslie tugged his mouth down to hers.

“Mhmmmmmm, I know.”

*****

As much as it felt like some sort of weakness to admit it, being away from DC appeared to be just what the doctor ordered. Ben felt more at ease than he had in weeks and he finally stopped jumping and reaching for Leslie at every small noise. The first morning, they ate breakfast by the ocean and listened to the waves crashing along the shore. Leslie snuggled into his side afterwards and they walked along the beach until it started to get crowded.

He should probably mention how intense his feelings for her were already and how they only grew with each minute spent in her presence. She laughed freely and smiled so readily it made his body ache less and his heart feel lighter.

They went for specialized massages (well, his was specialized and the masseuse kneading into his flesh was well aware of his injuries) and wandered to another hotel for lunch. Leslie cajoled him into the pool when it was quiet that afternoon.

Once they finally got swimming and she was wet and dripping, it took everything in Ben not to lift her onto the ledge and push his face between her thighs.

That night they lay in bed together, breeze blowing lightly through the drapes and Leslie’s hand in his hair lulling him to sleep.

Ben hadn’t thought he’d been having nightmares, but the following morning Leslie assured him it was the most soundly he’d slept the entire time she’d been with him.

He didn’t want to think about what would happen when she had to go home, to Pawnee. He felt better every minute he spent with her and and imagining going back to that DC apartment alone made his stomach twist.

She fed him some fresh fruit when he seemed to be thinking too hard and they made out against the kitchen counter before heading down to the beach.

“Mhmmm, this is nice.”

Her nose was against his back, arm draped over him as they snuggled on a lounge chair under an umbrella.

On day three he did the thing that had been on his mind since they’d arrived.

No, since the first time she’d let him kiss her.

He dragged Leslie down to the pool after it had closed for the night, they ‘broke in’, (she asked if she needed sunglasses and a fedora for sneaking around), and Ben had to clamp a hand over her mouth when she started cackling maniacally out of nowhere. 

“Shhhhhh, goofball,” he silenced her with his mouth.

He kissed her until he was dizzy, got in the pool and lifted her up onto the ledge. Leslie’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open.

He nipped at the inside of her knee.

“I’m not putting weight on my arm and you’re not putting weight on my shoulders,” he did the same to the other knee and she whimpered.

“We’re doing this.”

Ben ran his tongue along her center, tasting the chlorine and Leslie Knope. Leslie groaned and her fingers went to his hair as Ben growled and his tongue finally slid fully through her.  

Fuck, he’d been dying to taste her, dying to watch her eyes roll back and feel her hand clench against him; dying to have his head filled with the sounds of her coming without trying to stave off his own release.

He swirled and flicked and his fingers pumped, alternating places with his tongue a few times. Leslie’s breathy  _ there, babe _ would be burned in his brain for the rest of his life.

The endearment, coupled with the sheer need in her voice was all he’d been wanting to hear.

When she moaned loudly through her release a few minutes later he smiled against her. Leslie slid into the water and they made out lazily for a while before finally hurrying back to their room and hopping in the shower.

Leslie put some balm on his shoulder afterwards, as she always did, and they got into bed, she returned the favor and Ben saw stars.

Leslie dozed off first, surprisingly, and Ben just pushed his nose into her hair and inhaled.

Yeah, he was definitely feeling a lot of things.

*****

By the end of their vacation, Ben knew for certain he was very much in love with Leslie Knope. His throat burned whenever he thought about her having to go back to Indiana, and simply holding her hand made everything seem easier. He’d never felt supported like this, ever. His family called and yes, in their own way, they cared, but Leslie was just  _ there _ , being his person to lean on. It was hard to imagine having to let go of that for any amount of time.  

The flight home was arranged by her and it wasn’t until they were in the air and she was prattling on happily about parks department projects that Ben realized where they were going.

Minneapolis.

Henry picked them up from the airport and accepted Leslie’s friendly hug like they’d known each other forever. And then his big brother wrapped him up and squeezed him as tightly as he dared and Ben had to fight back the stinging in the corner of his eyes. Leslie kissed his back and wound her arms around his waist while they waited for bags. They drove to his mother’s house without saying much...and then they pressed through the front door and words failed him completely.

Everyone was there. His dad, his dad’s girlfriend, Steph, his mom, Henry’s wife, his new niece who he was finally going to get to meet...

It shouldn’t have made a lump form in Ben’s throat but it totally did and he had to step away to wipe his eyes after his dad told him  _ of course we’ve been worried sick about you, Benny. We just didn’t think you’d want us there. _

When he returned to join them he slid an arm around Leslie and pressed his lips to her hair.

“I love you, thank you,” he told her scalp quietly, not thinking she heard him until her gaze darted to his frantically and her lips twitched as she stood on tip-toe and pressed them against his own.

“So,” Henry began when they moved into the kitchen to get a beer. “How’d you land Leslie? Blackmail, right? Be honest because Steph and I have a bet.”

Ben snorted into his bottle and shrugged.

“I honestly have no idea.”

That night, he finally admitted he was too drained to do more than sleep and they curled up in his childhood bed under a cozy quilt. He told her he loved her again and Leslie said it back with a contented sigh.

Ben’s chest swelled with affection and he pushed even closer.  

It was the most whole he’d felt in a really long time.

And that was the best therapy he could’ve asked for. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you are still enjoying this fic as I have had a couple of requests for it. Please enjoy this next chapter! Comments and kudos are amazing and thank you so much for taking the time to leave me some! 
> 
> Enjoy! <3

She had been watching him for several hours now. She watched his jaw clench and unclench as they waited together in the airport, she watched confusion flood his features when he saw what gate they were waiting at. His eyes widened at the realization. 

“Are you taking me…”

“I just need to go to Pawnee for a few things, but of course you don’t have to come. You can go to DC if you want and I will head back in a few days - ”

“Let’s go to Pawnee,” he held out his good arm and Leslie snuggled under it reflexively. It was her favorite place to be, currently. Even better than Harvey James park. Being there, right where she could press her ear to his chest and feel his heart lub dubbing beneath his skin, was awesome.

Their fingers curled through each other’s and they snuggled closer in the drafty Minneapolis airport.

“I showed you mine, now you show me yours, Knope.”

Leslie grinned into his shoulder.

*****

“It’s...um…wow.”

Her cheeks flamed. She knew what that  _ wow _ was.

_ Wow _ , you have a lot of stuff.

_ Wow,  _ how many birdhouses do you need?

_ Wow _ , has the health department seen this?

“Ann...didn’t...she said she would stop by to tidy up, but…”

Ann had definitely been by already, but to the untrained eye it was hard to tell, so Leslie decided lying was probably best. She wasn’t ashamed of how she lived, exactly, but she also didn’t want Ben to be freaked out when he preferred things so neat and orderly.

His lips found the top of her head and he shuttled some books to the floor before flopping on the couch.

“Sorry,” he rubbed his face. “I’m sorry. It’s fine, it’s great, I’m just still so tired.”

The jet lag and the days of travel were hitting him hard, even though he was definitely a lot  stronger than he had been since they headed to Hawaii. Leslie moved some more books and climbed onto the cushion beside him, kissing his cheek.

“Should we order take out and go to bed?”

Ben nuzzled her temple.

“That sounds great.”

*****

Their first full day in Pawnee was a Sunday. Leslie took Ben to JJ’s for breakfast, introduced him to everyone, and then held his hand as they walked through Ramsett Park. He smiled a lot, kissed her at random and everything seemed lighter than it had in DC, even in Maui. It was more comfortable and relaxed and settled. It was nice.

That night, she unbuttoned his jeans and wrapped her mouth around his tip during The Matrix. Ben moaned and gripped the back of her head as she licked and suckled and took him over the edge. His sleep that night seemed more contented, his breathing even and the frown lines smoothed out of his face.

At 2AM he was startled awake by screeching car tires outside her bedroom window. Ben’s arm tightened, but then he snuggled down and murmured  _ idiots  _ into her neck softly. 

“Ben?” she breathed into his hair, surprised. “Are you okay?”

“Mhmmm,” he nuzzled again. “Go to sleep, babydoll.”

Their second full day in Pawnee, they toured Harvey James Park and then Leslie rode her sexy, Secret Service Agent boyfriend hard on the couch. His eyes rolled back in his head and his hips jerked as his rhythm became sloppy and he spilled into her.

It was with a dopey smile on his face that he declared he was making them cookies and Leslie jumped up to help.

Their third day in Pawnee Leslie went to work for a few hours. Ben came with her and sat at her desk, surveying her wall of inspirational women and identifying the ones he had met. Everyone in the department stopped by to meet the man who had made Leslie Knope take her first vacation in six years. Ben blushed and half shrugged.

Ron asked him to go hunting and Ben expressed his intention to avoid guns for a while.

That night, Ben pushed into her from behind, kissing her neck as the running shower made her bathroom steamy.

He snored loudly enough to wake the dead that night and Leslie, as a result, didn’t get much ( _ any _ ) sleep herself...but it was worth it to see him bright eyed and bushy tailed when he woke up the next morning.

On day five in Pawnee, Leslie left Ben at home while she went to work, and returned to find things had been  _ organized _ . He promised her everything was still there and hadn’t been thrown away, he just wanted to make room for them to walk around.

Leslie just smiled and kissed him softly.

Their sixth morning in Pawnee, Ben rolled on top of her and slid his mouth between her thighs, devouring her. Leslie worried about his arm for the first minute or so, and then forgot to think about anything except how great his tongue and lips felt and how this was a ringing endorsement for making sex last a while.

He met Ann Perkins that evening. They went to dinner, Ben treated, and when he went to the bathroom Ann expressed her approval.

“He’s really nice,” she stated, reaching for her wine. “Sex is still good?”

Leslie started cackling and snorting and Ann rolled her eye,  but grinned.

On their seventh day in Pawnee, Agent Wyatt picked her up when she entered the house, asking about dinner. He appeared with a glint in his eyes, lifted her against the door and kissed her so hard her lips felt bruised after.

“What was that for?” she breathed, hand in his hair and forgetting to ask if she was too heavy.

“For being amazing and making me feel at home.”

Leslie leaned her forehead against his and said something about Pawnee making everyone feel like they’re home.

“It’s not Pawnee, Leslie.”

Her mouth went dry and her heart was in her throat, so she was glad when they started making out again.

Ben carried her upstairs, lips on her neck, and Leslie’s stomach twisted with eagerness before anything had really happened. He tossed her on the bed, fingers slicing through her clothing until she was very naked and breathing heavily.

He slammed into her that night, muscles flexing and sweat collecting on his brow as they moaned and groaned and moved in sync. Ben tugged her closer and tilted her ass, creating delicious friction between them as a liquid heat pooled in her belly.

When she came she definitely saw a whole galaxy of stars.

He grunted and finished soon after, collapsing in a heap with a laugh. Leslie was still shaking and clung to his dampened skin, lips grazing his ear.

Ben groaned, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

“We’ve had sex before,” she teased.

“Not like that we haven’t.”

Leslie snickered and rolled on top of him.

That was very true.

“So,” she peppered kisses to his bare chest as they both dozed off a while later.  “What’s making you feel at home if it isn’t Pawnee?”

“You, goofball” he breathed against her throat, lacing their fingers together. Leslie smiled to herself, brushing his hair back with her other hand.

She’d been hoping he’d say that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! The prompt for this was for a sad kiss. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are amazing and thank you so much for continuing to leave me some <3.

She’s staring at him like he can’t believe the words are falling from his lips. He can’t either, if he’s being honest, but with her in Pawnee and him in DC it makes the most sense. 

With him still dealing with the aftermath of everything and unable to function at all without her, it makes the most sense to...

He has to be able to function without her. 

Leslie has big goals, big dreams, and the last thing she needs is a partner in crime whose body is wrought with tension...who can’t even stand in public with her without worrying about a lone gunman from the rooftops. 

What if she runs for office and wins? (Of course she’ll win.) He’ll be even more of a mess than he already is. Because being on the vice president’s secret service detail is one thing, having to rely on other people to protect the love of your life is another. 

Tears slip down her cheeks and Ben lets out a rattly breath. He says something about it being the right thing to do and her running for office. He says all he can do is sit at a desk and even if they weren’t living a plane ride away from each other he’d be holding her back. 

Leslie sniffles and swipes the moisture off her face, her blue eyes even bluer as the light bounces off them. 

“Don’t do this.” 

He thinks of Maui, of all the times he wanted to pick her up and give her what she deserved. He thinks of her holding his hand and steadying his weight on her shoulder as they hiked up a narrow trail to reach the top of volcano. 

He thinks of Minnesota and that time she told him she loves him. He thinks of saying it back. 

He can’t remember the last time he was in love with anyone. He’s pretty sure he’s never been in love with anyone like this. 

He’s exhausted, he’s not sleeping and he knows Leslie can tell as she reaches out to touch his face. 

“Ben, you’re having a bad day and things will look better in the morning.” 

He’s not. He might sleep well tonight with her beside him, but he knows what needs to happen. He knows she can’t be tied to him. 

“Ben...” her voice breaks and it almost breaks him. The tears fall faster and he thinks she might say she loves him, but she doesn’t. Whether it’s because she never meant it in the first place or because she knows there’s no changing his mind, she doesn’t utter the words. 

“I wish things were different.” 

He does too. 

After a few long seconds she stands slowly, reaching for the bag at her feet. She’d barely gotten here and he's already sending her away because he can’t bear to look at her. 

God, he's an asshole. 

“Leslie, I’m...” he wants to promise he’s doing this for her, but it’s such a ridiculous thing to say. She’s upset, he’s doing this for himself because he thinks this is what she needs in the long run. 

Leslie nods, swallowing a sob as she reaches for his hand. 

“Good luck.” 

“You,” now he’s got a lump in his throat. “You are so amazing and you’re going to do the most amazing things and I can’t - ”

She cuts him off with a kiss. It’s soft and salty and there’s no pushback behind her lips, but it’s there. He slides his fingers through her hair and holds her against him after it ends. 

She leaves without another word and Ben smears the tears off his own face. 

Yup, he’s an asshole and she’s sunshine. 

Sunshine can’t be in love with an asshole. It’s a rule or something. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: alone
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos! I'm sorry the last chapter was tragic, but I hope you still enjoy this one <3.

She stops crying as soon as her car door slams shut. She expects herself to dissolve into a fresh wave of sobs but instead it just...stops. 

She puts her key in the ignition and decides to spend a few days in DC anyway. Ben won’t be out and about so it’s not like she’ll run into him, and she didn’t drive for ten hours to just turn around and go home.

When she calls Ann from her cushy king-sized at a four star hotel only a few blocks from the National Mall her beautiful best friend is taken aback.

“He  _ dumped you _ ?”

Leslie’s lack of an answer is all the confirmation Ann needs.

“I’ll kill him.”

“No -”

“Leslie, you...you...he was a mess! You got on a plane to DC, you stayed with him for weeks, you took him to Hawaii, you took him to see his parents! How could he do this!”

“He doesn’t want to be with me” she’s amazed at how level she sounds.

“He said he loves you!”

“Well” that’s the thing that makes her throat tighten. “I…”

“Leslie - ”

“I have to go!” she shouts for some reason, the tightness now a burning. “I...I have a...a museum tour and I want to ask the guide a lot of questions, it’s supposed to be the most intricate one in the city and - ”

“Leslie, it’s 10PM - ”

“BYE ANN!”

Ann calls back three times. Leslie answers none of them. She’s too busy crying into her pillow.

She doesn’t leave DC the next day like she should. Instead she goes to the fancy grocery store on the street corner, buys overpriced ice cream and white wine and makes herself a sundae that combines the two while she watches Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze make clay pots in Ghost.

She watched this with Ben once at her house. He’d teased her about it, but in the end he’d just held her through the entire thing.

Leslie goes back to Pawnee Sunday night. It’s better...and it’s not. The drive is long and her first instinct is to text Ben and let him know she arrived safely. She texts Ann instead, like she used to before Ben existed.

She’s never slept this much in her life.

The dreams are the worst part.

She dreams of him bleeding in the middle of the stage while paramedics fight crowds to get to him. She dreams of him in a hospital bed, ghostly pale as a man in a white coat tells her it was too little too late.

_ Nobody came _ the dream doctor says.  _ He lost the will to live _ .

Her subconscious is obviously playing horrible tricks on her.

She checks her phone all night and goes to work on barely any sleep. If Ron notices something’s off he doesn’t say so...probably because her eyes grow glassy when Tom asks where Jell-o Shot’s at these days.

Her first full weekend without Ben her mother takes her out for margaritas. Leslie gets drunk and tells her everything and Marlene just pats her hand. Her practical mother promises if it was meant to be they would be together, so it was obviously not.

It doesn’t help in the moment, but Leslie hopes it will later. 

After two weeks without Ben she stops constantly checking to see if he’s texted her. She called him a few times and left a lot of rambly messages and he never responded. When Ann found out she took away her phone and deleted Ben’s number.

Which, okay, is why Leslie stops checking.

After a month she sort of feels like herself again. She throws herself into her work and focuses on all the good her parks team could be doing and cleans up the Pawnee River without any government grants to assist.

She still checks the news every night, just in case. She sees the vice president on TV a few times but Ben is never with him.

Six weeks after the break up Ann takes her to the Snakehole for Tom’s birthday. She gets really drunk, dances with Jean Ralphio and thinks about kissing someone just to say she did.

In the end, she just goes to Ann’s house and snuggles in her bed.

Twelve weeks after Ben ends things she goes on her first date.

This time, she does kiss the guy just to say she did.

It doesn’t help. Nothing seems to.

*****

For the first month after the break up Ben remains steadfast. He fills in reports, helps train young agents and even has dinner at the vice president’s house.

He sleeps with a political consultant he meets that night and that’s when he breaks.

He leaves as soon as Courtney, a leggy brunette, falls asleep and keeps rewriting and deleting texts to Leslie the entire way home. His stomach burns and twists as the cab takes him back to his apartment and Ben almost asks them to go to the Emergency Room instead.

He feels like he has a hernia or could start vomiting blood or something. Nothing is right anymore.

He does go home, sleeps it off and wakes up still fighting the urge to call Leslie. He misses her - every inch of her. He misses the way she sighs when they kiss, misses her soft hair falling through his fingers, misses her smile and her laugh, and…

He reminds himself this is for her. This is so she’s free to fall for someone who isn’t a mess...someone who can actually take care of her instead of her being the one that has to take care of them.

Ben hopes she’s happy. He’s miserable, but he hopes she’s better for it. That’s the point of all of this.

He’s distracted, sleep deprived and driving on roads slick with rain fifteen weeks after their relationship ends.

And he’s still thinking about Leslie. 

Which is probably why he doesn’t see the pickup truck swerving through a red light until seconds before the impact.

And then everything goes black.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: You almost died kisses

It’s a blur. 

Her phone ringing just as she’s getting out of the shower is a blur, Henry’s broken voice asking Leslie if she’s on her way is a blur. His words and their significance settling in the pit of Leslie’s stomach are a blur.

Ben’s back in the hospital. He got T-boned at an intersection. Henry was shocked Leslie wasn’t already halfway to DC while he tries to get a flight out of Chicago.

It’s bad, that’s what she gets from Henry’s call. He’s in worse shape than when he was shot and his shoulder, which still had part of a bullet lodged in it, has some major tissue damage. They’re not sure how much function he’ll have in his arm.

Leslie reads between the lines when Henry tells her that. Shoulder damage is one thing, but that’s not what makes a sob crack through his facade as Leslie scrambles to get dressed.

Henry thought she would’ve been called already. Leslie’s still Ben’s emergency contact after the time she spent in Washington with him. 

He hadn’t told his family they’d broken up.

The flight isn’t until the morning and driving would probably get her there faster if she left right away, but she’s in no condition to operate her vehicle. She thinks about Ben Wyatt, Secret Service agent with quick reflexes...the man whose arm always darts out across her body when he has to slam on the breaks. The man who jolts awake at the slightest noise and tugs her under him...the man who’s always ready, always on alert…

What had happened? She has to know.

She runs through the hospital like she’s in some sort of dramatic movie, but instead of letting her fly through the doors and collapse into his arms she gets shouted at three times before a muscular orderly pins her to him.

She gets told to settle down. 

And then they make her wait in a small reception area just outside of the ICU. One family - a woman and two teenage girls - have their arms wound tightly around each other and their eyes are bloodshot. A nurse with a solemn look on her face gestures them forward, but doesn’t lead them into the ward...instead she takes them in a small room with a comfortable looking couch and closes the door behind her.

Leslie’s heart stops and she balls her fists more tightly to keep from screaming.

Finally, after what seems like hours, they take her inside. Not to the little room, thankfully, but straight into the unit. It’s starkly white and smells like metal, bleach and something Leslie would rather not identify. Ben’s room is at the far end of one hall. His body’s draped in a heavy blanket, there’s a bandage wrapped around his head with tufts of hair sticking out. Both his eyes are black, one worse than the others, and his arm is in a sling.

“They’re keeping him sedated” the nurse, an elderly woman with an unapologetic tone explains. “They just rounded a few minutes ago, but I can try and get the physician to come back and give you an update. They’re waiting for the swelling to go down though.”

“What swelling?” Leslie somehow manages to ask.

“His brain.”

She collapses into the chair beside his bed, the back of her throat so tight it aches. The nurse pats Leslie’s shoulder and leaves .

*****

For a long time she doesn’t move. She doesn’t touch him, she barely exhales. She watches from the uncomfortable chair as his chest rises and falls, his breath fogging an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth.

At midnight, four men and two women - all in green scrubs - shuffle into the room. The leader of the pack, a older gentleman with white hair, blinks when he sees her.

“Excuse me” he checks a piece of paper. “Visiting hours end at 6PM.”

Leslie manages not to bite his head off as she calmly explains she’s not leaving Ben. Ben can’t be alone, he doesn’t rest well when he’s alone and maybe that’s why he got in the accident in the first place. Maybe he was sleep deprived.

Maybe his sexy new girlfriend was out of town for the night and he couldn’t relax. 

The doctor sighs and hands a big binder to one of the younger men. 

“Are you family? Significant other?” 

“I…” she manages not to start crying again. “I was.”

The man exchanges a look with the person next to him. A woman with a curly bun tries to smile at her.

“Well” the man clears his throat. “The good news is, the swelling in Ben’s brain has gone down and his oxygen levels are improving, so we’re going to wean him off the sedation and get him breathing on his own.”

Leslie nods eagerly because that sounds better.

“Is next of kin on their way?” 

“Y-yes. They’re waiting on flights.”

He brushes passed Leslie to check some monitors surrounding Ben. He then examines an IV bag and gestures at the woman with the wild curls.

“Allison, write the chart note.”

“Yes, Dr. Wallace.”

“We’ll be back in the morning” Dr. Wallace tells Leslie before moving onto the next room and leaving Leslie alone with her thoughts again.

*****

At 10AM they take Ben off the ventilator and adjust his sedation meds some more. The swelling’s still going down and for the first time since Leslie’s arrival his nurse actually looks genuinely pleased. 

Ben’s oxygen levels remain steady and he starts to shift a little more in the bed, fingers clenching and unclenching as he sleeps. Just after noon he murmurs something in his sleep.

It’s hearing his voice that pushes her over the edge.

Leslie leaps to her feet, touching him for the first time in months by taking his cheeks between her hands.

“Ben” she rests her forehead lightly against his. “Ben, Ben, Ben, you have to wake up. Okay? I don’t care if you don’t want to...to be with me anymore, but I love you and your family loves you and you need to wake up.”

Leslie kisses him hard, lips chapped and puffy under her own. She then proceeds to smother kisses on every inch of skin she can reach, swallowing the little sighs that escape Ben’s throat when she does. They warm her to the core and she instantly wants to curl up on the bed with him. 

“I need you to be okay” she kisses him half a dozen more times until someone coughs.

It's Henry, standing there with hair disheveled as much as Ben’s always is, shirt misbuttoned and jeans with a coffee stain on the thigh.  

“He didn’t tell us you guys...” Henry pulls her away from Ben and into his own arms. Leslie doesn’t cry, just breathes deeply as Henry rubs his hands down her back.

“You broke up” Henry finishes. “He didn’t mention that. What’d he do?”

“He ended it” Leslie declares. “Four months ago. He said I deserved better.”

Henry snorts, reaching out and patting his brother’s arm. “He Ice Towned you.”

“Excuse me?” 

“After Ice Town and the impeachment Ben dumped his girlfriend. He said he was a disaster and she deserved better...everyone assumed it happened the other way around, but...everyone was turning against him and he assumed she would too eventually or that he would hold her back, so…” Henry rubs his forehead. “You’re the last person he would want to hold back, Leslie.”

“He’s not holding me back!” she shouts, only to be shushed by her not-so-friendly nurse. “He...I love him and I miss him and he’s...if anything he makes me better, so that’s bullcrap!”

Henry’s lips twitch and he gives a little nod of understanding.

“I’ll tell him to pull his head out of his ass if - when he wakes up...since you haven’t kissed him to consciousness yet.”

Leslie’s cheeks tinge pink and Henry chuckles. “You should go lie down or something - ”

“I’m not leaving.”

“At least go get a coffee then.”

Leslie agrees, reluctantly, giving Ben one more peck to the temple before trudging out the door.

Maybe she can kiss him to consciousness later. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your kudos and comments. I hope you enjoy this next installment!

By the end of the first night his parents and sister have arrived.

Steph spends most of the time distracting her mother while Henry keeps his father from yelling at doctors and nurses alike. For the most part they don’t say anything to Leslie and they barely let their eyes land on Ben for more than a second or two.

Those passive aggressive Wyatt’s would rather snipe at each other than acknowledge their severely injured son.

When Leslie catches Julia Wyatt’s shining eyes she supposes she understands.

After Ben’s doctor has rounded for the evening Henry grabs Leslie by the elbow and pulls her through the hallways and out the doors of the ICU. She’s bone weary, so she doesn’t fight him, but she does say something about Ben waking up without her.

Henry takes her to the hotel a few blocks away, forces her to check into a room and marches her upstairs. He pushes Leslie into the bathroom and calls his wife while she showers and changes into some fresh clothes that don’t smell like the stale air of the hospital and plane combined.

When she emerges from the bathroom there’s two hamburgers and a massive plate of french fries on a trolley in the center of the room. She dives into one - the one without any vegetables - and eats more than half the fries while Henry picks at a few.

“They think he might wake up soon” Henry tells her between bites.

Leslie wants to go back to the hospital, but before she can say as much Henry’s turning off the light and draping a blanket over her. She tries to protest but her eyes are so heavy she can’t will them to open.

She dreams of nothing but wakes up in a cold sweat at 7:30AM. She scrambles for her shoes and dashes to the hospital as fast as her legs will carry her.

Ben’s sitting up, the bandage removed from his head as he sips what looks like sludge from a straw.

“Blegh” he sticks his tongue out and pulls a face that almost makes her giggle. “What is this?”

“It’s to make sure you can still swallow properly after being on the ventilator” his nurse, Elena, informs him. Ben cringes, but takes another sip when she says something about getting his strength back. Leslie instantly feels lighter.

What happens next happens all at once.

Steph steps to the side to whisper something to Julia. Henry dips down to murmur something to Steve and Ben’s eyes find her through the group as he raises the cup to his lips.

He drops it instead, spilling brown sludge all over the hospital floor.

He curses under his breath as Elena warns him about  getting over excited and then snaps at him for starting to move. Leslie steps forward and Ben attempts to swing his feet to the ground, but he’s too weak to manage it.

“I called her” Henry explains. “I didn’t realize you’d dumped her because you’re a moron - ”

“Henry!” Julia scolds him like he’s five, but the brothers just shrug in perfect unison. Ben’s eyes are still locked on hers. He stretches out a hand and Leslie steps forward again, but doesn’t take it.

“Let’s get some breakfast” Henry suddenly declares. Julia protests the hardest, but she’s ushered away before she can really dig her heels in. After a few seconds, Elena follows with a scowl. She’s mopped up the drink with some paper towels that are now dripping down her hand.

Ben starts when they’re finally alone.

“I’m an idiot - ”

“You scared me” Leslie sort-of yells. “I...I wanted to be with you and you weren’t listening to what I wanted and sometimes I steamroll, Ann tells me, but _you_ ended it, Benjamin.”

Ben sighs, slumping back into his pillows. “Leslie, you’re going to run for office and win and the last thing you need is some messed up Secret Service agent...I thought I was hurting you by being with you - ”

“You did hurt me!” she kicks the frame of the bed as hard as she dares. “ _You_ didn’t listen to what I wanted because if you had been you would’ve known that being with you is more important than running for office!”

She’s close enough to the bed that he takes her wrist in his hand. Leslie shivers, watching his fingers press against her palm in slow motion.

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be!” her cheeks feel hot and she might be trembling slightly.

“I love you.”

Her breath hitches. They only said that to each other once, when they were in Minnesota and he was the most at peace she’d ever seen him.

He draws her knuckles to his lips.

Every inch of Leslie, down to the bone marrow, wants to climb onto the bed and kiss his face hard like she did the day before.

But she doesn’t. Instead she leans back just as Elena returns and says the doctor’s on his way.

“Your girlfriend can stay if you want” Elena declares as tears finally slip down Leslie’s cheeks. Ben brushes them away.

“She’s not my girlfriend” he whispers with a nervous smile. Leslie chokes out a laugh as her eyes lock on his.

She’s really not.

But somehow that doesn’t matter right now.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No prompt for this one, it just needed to be done! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys enjoy this!

The sludge makes Ben feel like he’s drinking vomit three to six times a day. 

So, when his nurse isn’t looking his big brother sneaks him a cheeseburger.

A cheeseburger in the ICU.

There’s even bacon on it.

Ben devours every inch of it and reaches for the fries without hesitation.

“What happened with Leslie?” Henry demands. Ben sighs and drops his fry. Leslie was taken to get some lunch with his parents while Steph went to go call home. He’d made his mother and father - separately - swear they wouldn’t speak unless it was to tell Leslie what a great, wonderful human being she is.

“I…” Ben pinches the bridge of his nose, but then hisses because that seriously hurts. “I got back to DC and I was a mess. I kept calling her or almost calling her in the middle of the night, I couldn’t sleep without her...I kept trying to think of ways to get her to come to DC permanently even though she wants to be in Pawnee and run for office...Basically, I wanted to ruin her life.”

“So, instead of having a conversation like an adult you dumped her and went into hiding?”

Ben would roll his eyes if it didn’t hurt to do so.

“Yes. Okay?”

“Ohhhh, Benny. You were always so bad with chicks - ”

Ben throws a napkin at him and Henry grins.

“So, here’s the thing. I’m worried about you because you’re a moron.”

“Thanks.”

“Leslie is here because she loves you and wants to help you and you’re not letting her.”

“She should be with someone who makes her happy.”

“You make her happy, you goon. God only knows why.”

Ben sighs and leans back into his pillows. He has moments of energy, but for the most part he’s just exhausted.

“What do I do?”

“Quit, find a job somewhere else, move to Indiana, lock her down, I don’t know. But talk to her about it.”

Ben finishes his fries and Henry moves the trash from the bed, stuffing it into the garbage can with a conspiratorial grin on his face.

“Rest” He pats Ben’s shoulder. “They’re moving you up to the fifth floor today, remember? I asked them to give you the chattiest roommate there is.”

Ben groans, his eyes falling shut as Henry tucks the blankets around him.

*****

“Which one’s the missus?” the eighty-something in the bed next to Ben croaks. Steph’s eyes go wide and she quickly says she’s his sister.

“Nice” the man licks his lips as he takes in Leslie. “Natural blonde, sweetheart?”

Leslie’s face turns red and if Ben had more strength he would leap to his feet and punch the guy for some testosterone driven reason. Thankfully, his new nurse, Helen, tells off Mr. Porter, who quickly mumbles an apology to Leslie.

Steph says something about a glass of water and Ben reaches for Leslie’s hand.

This time she even sits on the edge of the bed.

“How were my parents?”

“Fine. Worried about you” her eyes dart over his face and chest. “We’re all very worried about you, Ben.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you remember anything about…” her thumb slides against his. “...the crash?”

“Vaguely” he trails his fingers over her arm and along her cheek. “I missed you.”

“You ended it.”

“I know” he drops his tone an octave. “You deserve more than me, Leslie.”

“I didn’t  _ want _ more than you.”

He takes in her watery eyes and fights back a yawn. The fucking pain killers are the same ones they gave him after he was shot and even though he napped most of the afternoon Ben still can’t stay awake for any significant period of time.

But he wants to. Leslie looks so sad and he wants to comfort her somehow.

“Go to sleep” she whispers as Mr. Porter starts to snore loudly.

“Stay with me” Ben pleads.  

She murmurs something, but Ben doesn’t make sense of it as Leslie squeezes his hand with a soft smile.

It’s the last thing he remembers before he dozes off again.

*****

Five days later, he goes home.

His parents and Steph are going to get him settled and then flying out the next morning. Henry’s gone back to Chicago for two days, but he’s returning the following evening to make sure Ben gets settled.

Leslie’s made no mention of going back to Pawnee. She’s hovered in the shadows for the most part, but she’s there. She’s standing at the end of the hall when he does physio, she’s making sure he gets the chocolate pudding on his tray because he can’t stand the vanilla, and he falls asleep holding her hand at least three times a day.

She’s really got the in sickness and in health thing nailed down.

They take Ben back to his apartment as a group. His dad helps him up the stairs and his mother starts dusting and  _ tsking _ about his poor housekeeping skills.

“I’ve barely been home” Ben snorts, but it hurts his ribs to do so. Leslie smooths down his pillow and eases him back onto it.

When his family hugs and kisses him and they’re alone, really alone for the first time in forever, Leslie comes back to the bed.

“I have a hotel.”

His breath hitches in his throat and his heart starts to race.

“Don’t go to a hotel.”

“You’ll be fine through the night. The doctor said - ”

“Leslie” he catches her by the elbow and she sighs, blue eyes slanting down. “You want the bed? You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch. My scapula’s only a little bit fractured.”

She giggles, but it’s not as loud as he’s used to.

“I had a date.”

“What?” that hurts more than anything that’s happened in the last week. That’s a knife in his chest, even though it’s his own fault for pushing her away.

“I had a date. On Friday. I forgot to cancel. I thought of it when you were getting your shower today.”

“O-oh” he swallows hard. “Did...when did that start?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“Is it serious? With this guy?”

“It’s...none of your business.”

“Ouuuuch” he feels himself pout, but she’s smiling slightly. “Leslie…”

“It’s not serious. It was supposed to be our second date and I kissed him, but I didn’t want to.”

Ben pulls a face and this time she laughs for real.

“You’re going to make me work for it, aren’t you?”

Now, she’s full on grinning.

“Stay here” he cups her head and kisses her hair as her nose pushes into his chest. He feels her sharp intake of breath. “Please?”

“If you promise to sleep.”

He brings the back of her hand to his lips.

“Yes ma’am.”

He’ll start working for it in the morning.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm _so sorry_ this took so long. I have been trying to get this chapter to work forever and it finally just clicked. I hope you guys enjoy it! 
> 
> Comments and kudos make my day. Happy Friday!

He’s working for it. 

That’s what he told her he would do.

The first night it’s just the two of them he puts on the Princess Bride and Leslie makes popcorn and they sit in the middle of the bed eating it. Ben reaches for her hand when Buttercup realizes the true identity of the Dread Pirate Roberts.

She thought she’d thought she’d lost him forever.

Buttercup, not Leslie.

Leslie glances over and sees Ben’s fallen asleep, mouth slightly agape and his left arm still in a sling. His hair’s everywhere and his face is heavy with dark scruff.

She kisses his forehead and settles down on the pillows beside him, willing her mind to quiet as she toys with his fingers.

Just being with him like this, she feels better than she has for months.

*****

The second morning they’re alone he makes her breakfast.

Well, he tries. She awakens after him, having not fallen asleep until sunrise, and hears Ben swear loudly from his tiny kitchen.

There’s pancake batter all over the floor, there’s bacon sizzling in the pan and splattering on the walls and there’s a spatula melting into the burner. Leslie runs over amidst Ben’s apologies, removing the plastic and turning off the stove. Once that’s under control she grabs some paper towels and starts cleaning up.

“I’ll go out and get us some bagels or something.” 

“I wanted to make you breakfast” Ben grumbles quietly. He’s cranky. She can see it in the way his jaw sets and his eyes slant downwards like he can’t bear to stare at her full on.

“My fucking hand just…”

“It’s okay” she touches his arm lightly. “Go sit down and I’ll clean up and get us breakfast.”

“I’m sorry - ”

“It’s fine” she’s not irritated at all, but for some reason she comes out sounding that way. “Go sit down.”

Ben sighs and slumps off, collapsing on the bed in a heap as Leslie deals with what’s left of the mess. When she returns from the cafe downstairs with coffees and bagels. Ben’s watching ESPN with a frown set on his face.

He thanks her quietly and says nothing else for the rest of the morning.

That night the superintendent calls up to say there’s a delivery for Ms. Knope. Tony knows her from the time she spent in DC after Ben was shot and she heads downstairs to meet him. Ann or her mother probably sent more clothes, or maybe some idea binders in case she wanted to keep working. Or maybe Ron needed grant proposals filed and didn’t care to do the paperwork himself and knew she’d been dying to sink her teeth into that river clean up…

Flowers.

A bouquet of the freshest, most vibrant purple tulips she’s ever seen in her life. She signs for the delivery and has a fleeting thought that maybe they’re from Jason and he’s hoping they can try again when she gets back from Pawnee.

But she pushes that out of her head quickly.

They’re from Ben, obviously, and his face when she walks into the apartment confirms it.

He’s smirking just a little bit and asking if she’s read the card yet.

She does without a word after she sets down the vase.

_ I’m sorry _ .

That’s all it says. That’s all it needed to.

“Is this you working for it?” She asks, a lump in the back of her throat.

“No” Ben stands slowly and scrubs at his face. “Well, okay, yes, a little bit, but mostly I just wanted to give you flowers.”

She smiles and tucks the card away as she adds water to the vase. Once it’s set in front of the window on the kitchen table Ben takes her by the hands and presses his lips the side of her neck. It’s so soft and featherlight she almost rips through her skin. Ben skims his hand over the side of her arm.

“I’m sorry I was a jerk.”

“You weren’t” he really wasn’t. He was frustrated and in pain, and -

“I don’t just mean today” he rubs his nose against her neck.

He doesn’t kiss her lips, doesn’t even try to. Instead, he just pulls her into a tight hug and they hold each other like that for way too long.

*****

The third night they go outside. The walk the street a few times and Ben fills his lungs with fresh air. She holds his hand, partially because she doesn’t know how to be beside him and not do that, but also because she  _ wants _ to.

She missed him so much.

But this...this is how their relationship started the last time and as nice as it is it’s not sustainable.

She’ll quit her job, she almost tells him. She’ll miss Pawnee terribly, but they can go back and forth and she always planned on moving to Washington eventually...

They can talk about that later.

That night she’s cleaning up the kitchen when Ben draws her a bath in his curiously large tub. It smells of lavender bath salts - the kind she always keeps at home - and it’s filled with bubbles. Ben’s smiling crookedly and offers to wash her back. She giggles and rubs his cheeks. He’s half asleep, having just taken his painkiller for the night.

“Come to bed after” he whispers, kissing her forehead. His hand slides down her back and Leslie finds herself dozing against his chest.

“Okay?” Ben cups her cheek and checks her eyes. She nods and this time his lips brush over the tip of her nose before he disappears into the other room.

*****

“We have to talk” she tries to sound serious, but she’s giggling. She’s rubbing her foot over Ben’s and fighting the urge to kiss him.

They have to talk first. This can’t be like last time.

“You have done a lot of very sweet things for me lately even though you’re the injured one, but we need to actually talk about things. I can’t go through this again.”

Ben’s smile fades. He rubs his thumb over hers. “Me either.”

It’s on the tip of her tongue to tell him she’ll come to DC, but he keeps going.

“When...I…” his cheeks color and a tightness builds up in Leslie’s chest. It’s like she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

He’s going to say he had sex with someone else.

Her name is Courtney and it was after a dinner party at the Vice President’s house. Ben says it just happened and it only made him miss her - Leslie - more. He says Leslie’s all he wants and all he’s wanted for forever.

But all Leslie hears is this woman was there for Ben, was  _ enough _ for Ben when Leslie couldn’t be.

She starts to cry even though it’s silly to do so. They were broken up, she had no claim to him. She went on a date and he had sex and she has no right to be upset.

She climbs off the bed to go to the couch and Ben tries to stop her, but he’s still too injured to move agilely. Instead he just flops back and covers his face with his hand.

Leslie barely sleeps at all, but she does rest her eyes for a few minutes. When she opens them again she’s back in the bed, tucked in carefully and surrounded by pillows.

In the back of her mind Leslie knows she dreamed of this other woman showing up, fawning and fussing over Ben and asking if she could do anything. Leslie imagines them riding off into the sunset, her long brown hair flowing down her back as Ben promised she was all he needed.

That day they don’t talk much (there isn’t much to say). They just watch movies and order a pizza for dinner. When they’re both tired again they wordlessly find an embrace and cuddle up under the blankets.

“You’re all I want” he tells her, all soft and sweet, nose rubbing against hers. When had he gotten that close?

He tries to kiss her lips and she pulls back without meaning to. Ben arches an eyebrow.

“No?” 

She shakes her head, again, without meaning to.

“Because of Courtney?” 

At least her name isn’t Hot Rebecca.

But that’s not why.

It’s because Leslie doesn’t feel like enough again.

She wants to, though. She really, really does.

*****

On the fifth morning, Courtney’s there.

She’s taller than Leslie, but not by much and her hair is long but more of a honey caramel than brown. She’s pretty, beautiful really. Almost as beautiful as Ann Perkins without the freckles and the ambiguous ethnic blend.

“I’m...I’m looking for Ben Wyatt.”

She’s gotten him a basket of goodies and Leslie can see the chocolate truffles in the first row. She’ll be taking those for herself. Ben will only want one, two at the most.  

“He’s in the shower.”

Courtney purses her lips, the room thick with tension.

“Are you...Leslie?” 

Leslie blinks. “Um. Yes.”

Courtney’s lips curve into a soft smile.

“He misses you. A lot.”

Leslie can only think of a few reasons the last woman he slept with might know that.

“I’ll...tell him I hope he feels better.” 

Leslie says she will even though her throat is dry. Courtney’s retreating down the hallway before they can say anything else to each other.

“Who was at the door?” Ben appears in a t-shirt and sweatpants, his arm out of the sling and his hair damp. He walks over to the basket as Leslie murmurs the answer. She watches his back stiffen.

“Uh...”

It doesn’t matter.

It never did, but now it _really_ doesn’t matter. 

Leslie wraps her arms around Ben’s waist and kisses the center of his back. He’s warm and smells like his body wash and she could stay here forever.

*****

On the morning of the sixth day he makes her waffles and this time she wakes up to the smell of them wafting through the apartment. She’s lured out of bed, pokes at the batter and asks something about chocolate chips. Ben shoos her away and she says she doesn’t want to go anywhere.

Something shifts behind his eyes and he steps forward, an arm on either side of the counter, surrounding.

“I love you.”

He hasn’t said that since Minnesota. He’s only said that once.

“I love you too” she answers with a smile as his nose bumps against hers. He wants a kiss and she grins against his lips, easing back just a little. He pouts.

“No?”

“No - I mean, yes!”  _ Yes _ , he should kiss her now. He should stop asking if he’s allowed to and just kiss her.

That’s what Ben Wyatt would do if he wasn’t feeling a little too broken right now.  

Ben chuckles, cupping the back of her neck as his mouth presses against hers. It’s hot and firm and she can taste the toothpaste on his lips and then his tongue as he tilts her chin to grant himself access and leans her back against the counter ever so slightly. His hands feel nice, his hair’s as thick and ridiculous as she remembers it and his body’s warm and solid.

When he lifts her up and puts her on the counter Leslie squeaks.

“Beeeeen, caaaareful...” 

She can’t say anything else, his hands are in his hair and he’s kissing her again. And smiling. 

They still have work to do, quite a lot of work actually, but they can do it together now.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the 'I love you' prompt series: On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the late sunlight glowing in your hair

They’re outside, at the park for the first time since the car accident. Ben’s lying on his back on a blanket as Leslie scribbles something in her notebook that will no doubt later be transferred to an idea binder. He reaches out a hand and touches her knee and she smiles, but keeps with what she’s doing. His hand slides to her back, rubbing his fingers along the edge of her spine as her hair falls into her eyes. He leans into her arm and Leslie reaches back to scratch his head. 

“What?” she finally turns her gaze up, the late afternoon sun bathing her skin in an orange glow. They should go home soon, get something to eat and take a hot shower to warm up.

“Nothing”  _ I just love you _ . It’s cheesy to think, let alone say, like something out of a bad romcom. But he can’t help it. He does. He’s never had anyone not wanting to give up on him before.

“What movie should we watch?”

They still can’t have sex so they watch  _ a lot _ of movies right now. Two more weeks, two more weeks and he can get his heart rate up again.

“Whatever you want” he answers innocuously. Whatever movie she wants, the moon, she can have it all.

“What are you writing, anyway?”

“A fifteen point plan to getting our lives together that starts with me finding a job.”

That makes Ben sit up.

“What do you mean?”

“I quit.”

He blinks hard a few times and grabs at her arm.

“You  _ quit _ ? Why would you do that?”

“Because you can’t leave DC right now or maybe you don’t want to leave DC right now, but I want to be with you.”

“Leslie - ”

“It makes the most sense, Ben. I’ll start finding a job here and you’ll recover and then we can decide on the rest of it.”

Leslie laughs when he kisses her hard, tongue pushing between her wet lips.

“No getting excited” she warns, hand over his heart. Her fingers curl against his chest.

“You shouldn’t have done that for me.”

“I wanted to and DC will be great and we’ll figure out anything else as we go.”

“That’s your fifteen point plan?”

“No, it’s very detailed. I’ll show you the idea binder once I make it.”

He chuckles, pulling her down against his chest and tightening his grip. Leslie snuggles and murmurs something about getting home.

“Five more minutes” he takes a deep breath and lets his eyes fall shut.


End file.
